Detective Comics #27

News Item! A copy of Detective Comics #27 rated by CGC in 8.0 condition (the best they've ever seen) recently sold for a record-breaking $241,000 at auction. This comic featured the first appearance of Batman.

Analysis:

We're clearly upping the cost of admission to collect at the extreme top end of the market. This marks a healthy boost over previously recorded sales, but it's not an unreasonable one. Detective Comics #27 is one of the rarest, most sought-after issues in all of comicdom, as well as traditionally being one of the two highest-priced ones (the other being Action Comics #1). This particular copy no doubt enjoyed special prestige because it was able to boast of being "the best-condition CGC-graded copy ever found", giving it an effective market grade higher than an 8.0 would otherwise merit.

Keeping in mind other high-profile sales such as the Captain America Comics #1 from a recent auction, I think we're looking at healthy boosts for Golden Age keys across the board. I'd also suspect that lower-quality copies of key books will also show similar bumps, as collectors try to get ahold of them in whatever quality they can afford. At the same time, let's not go crazy: this "best ever" copy sold for $241,000--not $1.5 million after all. Taken in toto, it's really very much in line with the sort of historical performance we've seen for key Golden Age books.

The Witching Hour #1

Begun in 1969, this was a title in the mold of DC's popular horror titles House of Secrets and House of Mystery. The basic format for each issue was a collection of short ghost stories, preferably with a grizzly surprise ending. Grizzled witches acted as MCs, introducing each story with ghastly glee. Like most of the DC horror titles, this one has traditionally languished in semi-obscurity, while collectors paid most of their attention to super-hero titles. Luckily, that means that copies of this often wonderful, and beautifully illustrated series can still be found fairly cheaply, and NM copies of issue #1 can still be found for about $40-45 in both shops and online auctions. One CGC-graded issue from a fairly obscure "pedigree" collection was recently sighted fetching bids well over $350, however. It might be a good time for DC horror fans to start filling this issue into their collection.

Ultimate X-Men #1

Cutting to the chase: the smart price on this book is about $10. Less than that, you either bought it new, or you got a good deal. Pay much more than that, and you're obviously not looking around at either eBay or innumerable comic shops which have no shortage of quantities in the $7.50 - $15 range. In short, the market is exactly what you'd expect for the guaranteed best-seller follow-up to the mega-popular Ultimate Spider-Man #1. It's a popular and sought-after issue, but also one with a large print-run, since demand was expected to be high all along.
But if $10 is the smart price for this comic, here are a few dumb prices: $25 for a CGC copy in 9.4 (NM), $48 for CGC 9.6 (goodish NM), and $207 for a copy in CGC 9.8 (really good NM). Actually, the last price isn't quite accurate: in a rather startling act of hubris, the would-be seller actually set his reserve price somewhere above that level. Obviously, he placed great stock in his boast that that there were only 5 copies of this issue graded by CGC so far that rated 9.8 or better.

I have no doubt that his claim was accurate. But so what? This is a comic that is only months old, and of which thousands upon thousands were printed--virtually all of which are in Near Mint or better condition. If only five people with better-than-average copies sent in their checks to have them graded by CGC, it doesn't really signify much.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but what is happening here is that comic sellers are placing bets. They are wagering the cost of CGC grading (generally $10-60 depending on the desired turnaround time) against the expected market appreciation that slabbing the comic would bring. Based on past behavior of the market, slabbing for profit can be a very lucrative business. The seller of the $207 Ultimate X-Men #1 was so bullish on his prospects that he actually demanded *more* than that for his copy.

While slabbing-for-profit can make economic sense for sellers, it's hard to see why a knowledgeable buyer would want to play along. If you're working the market, buying a $10 comic for $25 is rational only if you think you can sell it to someone else for even more. But for those who intend to hold on to their comics, buying a $10 comic for $10--sans plastic, if necessary--makes a great deal more sense. And if you need a copy in better-than-average shape, simply choose carefully when you buy your copy. In virtually all shops, unslabbed "9.8" comics cost the same as "9.4" copies of the same issue. You just have to be able to evaluate the difference yourself. Only when the copies are slabbed and professionally graded is it common to even differentiate between a 9.4 and a 9.8--much less pay eight times as much for the latter one.

Ultimate Spider-Man #1

This is the comic that got Marvel hot again. Written by Brian Michael Bendis, this was a much-anticipated reinvention of Spider-Man for modern audiences. Publicity around the series was huge, but few could predict what a monster this title has turned into. Even the name "Ultimate" has acquired a magic touch, boosting sales and fan interest for any time that possesses it. To this day, Ultimate Spidey #1 is still going strong, currently trading at about $40 for the regular "red" cover. Numerous variants abound, including recent reissues from K-B Toys and Payless shoes.

Fear #1

Sometimes known by its latter-day title, Adventures into Fear, this series began as the very embodiment of how stale horror had become during the harshest days of the Comics Code. With the original Comics Code banning depictions of "the walking dead, torture, vampires, cannibalism, and werewolfism" just about the only sort of horror permissible were giant monsters bent on spooking people and wrecking cities. This series wasted its first few years with dreck like "I found Monstrum, Dweller of the Black Swamp!" before the Code was relaxed just enough to begin experimenting with (slightly) more interesting monsters like Swamp-Thing clone Man-Thing, which began in issue #12. $10

Tomb of Dracula #70

For my money, the best monster series ever created. Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan made Dracula a character you couldn't help but admire--but simultaneously were scared to death of actually encountering in a dark alley. Noble, yet terrifying, Dracula was a proud Lord of the Vampires who used humans for food, yet in the course of the series married a mortal female and gave birth to a son. At the climactic end to the series, he did final battle against Quincy Harker and the rest of the mortals who had stalked him since the beginning of the series. It was an epic climax to a great title, and one which no fright aficionado should miss. $6

Star Wars (Marvel) #1

The normal cycle for comics based on hotly anticipated movies is for the comic to rise in value with the advance publicity, peaking just before the movie is released. Based on this, there are two ways to read the current $15 trading value of Marvel's 1977 Star Wars series. This is about half last year's value, and down to a quarter of its 1999 peak of $60. On one hand, the price is a huge disappointment to the Star Wars faithful, and may reflect their own disappointment with Episode I of the series, and skepticism about Episode II. But on the other hand, the current $15 price isn't entirely dissimilar to the issue's value shortly before the release of the previous Star Wars movie. If so, it may enjoy a similar run-up in value in the coming months.

Astro City (1st Series) #1

One of the best super-hero titles of the past decade, Kurt Busiek's Astro City succeeds by focusing on the human and the everyday. Although it's set in a city where flying superhumans are a common sight, the point of view is that of the man on the street. It's a device employed with great success in the earlier Marvels, and one which makes the exploits of the super-humans that popular Astro City seem that much more incredible. Add in Brent Anderson's lucid pencils and Alex Ross' stunning covers, and you had the makings of a nearly perfect series. $7.50

Green Arrow (2nd Series) #1

Oliver Queen may be back from the dead, but apparently that can only keep the audience fascinated for so long. After an initial run-up to about $10, the first issue of the relaunched Green Arrow series is falling back to near cover price at $3.50. The "Quiver" storyline that brought him back took a real risk in stretching on for so long, and this may have exceeded the attention span of readers. Alternately, it may just be another example of how hard the character is to handle.

Superman (1st Series) #24

The U.S. flag has taken a lot of abuse in recent years. For would-be radicals, burning a flag was the preferred method of generating cheap shock value and publicity. On the other hand, actually flying a flag was too often seen as an exercise in trite, nationalistic symbolism. With Americans' memories of war and struggle fading into the past, the flag's power as a unifying symbol seemed to be undergoing a slow decline

All that changed in an instant on September 11, 2001. As rescuers dug feverishly through the rubble of the fallen World Trade Center towers, a call went out for all New Yorkers--and all Americans--to fly their flags as a sign that this vicious attack had not diminished our spirit as a nation. Overnight, flags unused since July 4th appeared in doorways, garages, and car windows across the nation. Wal-Mart and other stores reported that they had instantly sold out of U.S. flags, selling hundreds of thousands in just days. To alleviate the sudden flag shortage, newspapers began printing color flag sections which could be pulled out and posted. Suddenly, the flag wasn't a quaint icon of Americana anymore. It was once again a rallying point, a mark of defiance, and a symbol of pride.

Not surprisingly, the same flag-waving fervor has carried over to the comics resale market. The notation, "flag cover" suddenly carries a lot more weight than it did in the past, and some of the grander patriotic covers are selling for double what they moved for just weeks ago.

Case in point: Superman #24 from 1943

For the past several years, this issue was remarkable in that it was one of the few mainstream, Golden Age super-hero issues to barely gain in value. Now, one month after the terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center, this issue with its classic "Superman before the flag" cover has apparently doubled in value, to about $2400 in NM.

Superman (2nd Series) #53

Superman (2nd Series) #53, with its classic modern flag cover proclaiming, "Truth, Justice, and the American Way" was an absolute deadbeat in the comics market in the past several years. Despite the gorgeous cover, fan interest was more centered on the events inside (where Lois reacts to having finally learned Clark Kent's secret identitity). It made waves at the time of its release, but ever since the pair became a happily married couple, this has become regarded as a minor episode in Superman history. Now, however, it's shot up to about four times its value of a month ago, selling today for the $10-$11 level.

Superman (1st Series) #13

Superman #13, however, with its propaganda-style cover of Superman sinking a Nazi gunboat (which seemed about to murder fleeing shipwreck survivors) seems to be an demonstration that not all war-era covers have the magic touch with collectors. The recent run-up in values for flag cover issues seems to be more about patriotic symbolism, not just notstalgia for the World War II era, or for propaganda-style covers. This issue, with its admittedly primitively drawn cover, seems to not be garnering much attention at all, and has not shifted from its previous guide price of $1650

Lone Ranger #76

One of my personal favorites--and apparently not yet discovered by most collectors--this beautifully painted cover features the Lone Ranger about to join in a cavalry charge, with a large U.S. flag covering much of the background. The uncredited cover artist was one of the best of his era, perfectly capturing the spirit of the Lone Ranger without seeming too cartoonish or over the top. In contrast, the later photo-covers that marked the latter part of the series had far less power to capture the imagination of the reader. $45